Like an individual, it is important for a society to accurately perceive
how others see it. Without a realistic perception, a society might make
decisions not warranted by the facts.

It is the news media's responsibility to help a society see itself
accurately. Or at least realistically.

On December 9, 1982, the United Nations General Assembly voted three
times on resolutions concerning nuclear testing.

Two of the resolutions, both opposed by the United States, would ban
testing nuclear weapons but not nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes;
the votes were 124 to 2 with 19 abstentions and 114 to 4 with 26 abstentions.

The third resolution called for a treaty outlawing all nuclear blasts.

It was overwhelmingly adopted by a vote of 111 to 1 with 35 abstentions.

The United States alone voted against the rest of the world.

(Kenneth L. Adelman defended the U.S. vote saying the resolution would
not reduce the nuclear threat. Adelman, of course, is the gentleman
currently accused of lying to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
when it was considering his nomination by President Reagan to head the
nation's Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.)

Our country's lonely and unpopular stand in the United Nations should
have been widely publicized by the media; such attention might have
become the basis for reconsideration of our position on the nuclear
testing question. Further, it might have helped us see ourselves as
others see us.